Rats in a Cage

by cellomould 3 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  cellomould

  Is there an addiction to exercise... i.e. a 'Runner's High'?

  Appeared in NYTimes online
  http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/21/health/fitness/21RUN.html?pagewanted=1&rd=hcmcp?
  By GINA KOLATA
  

  Dr. Brene and his colleagues reported that if they gave rats free access to a running wheel, they would run about about six miles a day. In that time, he finds, the three hallmark chemicals of addictive drugs — enkephalin, dynorphin and substance P — are produced in the reward centers of their brains.

  The interpretation is that the same brain systems are affected by running and by addictive drugs, Dr. Brene said. "It is the same brain circuitry that is activated and it is possible that you can have the same pathology in the brain, the same addictive nature of the behavior."

  And to think...I wanted to spend less time here and more time exercising! But I guess it's just trading one addiction for another.

  cellomould

  "You're crying 'why am I the victim?' when the culprit is YOU" Stevie Wonder
• 

  Satanus

  Some of the class one psychadelic drugs like dmt occur naturally in the brain as well. Imagine, anyone could be put in jail at any time for his body's illegal production of class one drugs.

  SS
• 

  Satanus

  The point is, if the body naturally produces these addictive drugs, there is apossibility that we evolved to be naturally using drugs. I'm just talking about the ones that are already in the body, not cocaine and heroine.

  SS
• 

  cellomould

  Right you are SS,

  drugs like Cocaine and methamphetamine only work because they mimic our natural brain chemistry by interaction with our brain's receptors.

  By the way, my new icon is the chemical structure of cocaine, though it is hard to see.

  cellomould

  "You're crying 'why am I the victim?' when the culprit is YOU" Stevie Wonder